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American Morning
Hurricane Emily Scores a Direct Hit on the Yucatan Peninsula; Police Searching for a Pakistani Connection in London Bombing
Aired July 18, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Watching for the distraction this morning in a vacation paradise. More than 100,000 tourists riding out Hurricane Emily right now after a direct hit on the Yucatan Peninsula. A live report from the path of the storm ahead.
A developing story in the London terror investigation. Police searching for a Pakistani connection now say three of the four bombers traveled to the country within the last year.
And in Iraq, the first criminal charges announced against Saddam Hussein. His trial date could be set this week. Saddam's legal adviser discusses defense plans for the dictator on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: Good morning to you.
I'm Miles O'Brien.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad this morning.
New information coming this hour on hurricane Emily. Emily has been pounding Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula for about six hours now. The winds have slowed to 100 miles per hour. They were 135 miles per hour when the hurricane hit the beautiful vacation beaches around Cancun. Some hotel officials say the storm surge was up to their doorsteps.
Karl Penhaul live via video phone from Playa del Carmen in Mexico. That's just south of Cancun.
What's it like there -- Karl?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, this area is where the eye of the hurricane came across the Yucatan Peninsula, according to the weather experts. Certainly no more hurricane. The hurricane has moved across -- further across the Yucatan Peninsula. But we're still feeling very strong tropical storm force winds.
We're at a beachfront resort here, a hotel just a few yards from the beach. And what I can tell you is that these hurricane winds have brought down many, many trees. They've pulled the roots up, some of the palm roots, at some of the hotels. But on the whole, there's been very little structural damage. That according to police in this area. Now, of course, along the whole of the Yucatan Peninsula, an area known as the Mayan Riviera, authorities estimate some 130,000 tourists are on vacation right now. About half of those are Mexican. The other derive from the U.S. or from Europe.
But there were evacuation plans and also emergency plans put into effect. And what the police here have told us is that there have been no casualties so far reported as a result of this hurricane -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Karl Penhaul live in Playa del Carmen, Mexico this morning.
Let's head to Atlanta and check in with Chad Myers.
He's at the CNN Center following Emily's path.
You know, Chad, I talked to Beth McGee -- she was vacationing in Cancun -- in the last half hour. She is in a gymnasium with 3,000 people with no air conditioning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
COSTELLO: And they're not telling her when she could leave.
MYERS: Exactly. The last plane out was 2:00 yesterday afternoon. They tried to get a bunch of people out as they could. They brought 500 buses in from Mexico City, trying to get people inland, a little bit farther in as the storm was south of the Cayman Islands. It actually became a very strong, category four hurricane at 155 miles per hour, one more mile per hour could have classified it as a category five.
But then it weakened a little bit and it rode right over Cozumel as a category four storm.
Back out of the way here, because this is a very close-in shot. Cancun, about 50 miles away from Cozumel. The eye wall itself went over Cozumel. We still don't have any reports out of Cozumel yet, but I don't think we'll probably get any for a while. It has been damaged severely with storm surge and with wind gusts to 140 miles per hour there. And so all the power lines are down and the transmission lines down, as well.
This storm is now east of Progresso, Mexico, moving to the west. It is still forecast to miss the United States, to miss Texas. But that's not a complete forecast just yet. We don't know exactly whether this storm could turn to the right just a little bit and maybe clip Brownsville, or maybe South Padre Island.
I had a live shot out of South Padre a little bit ago. The sun was actually out. The sunrise was beautiful. You wouldn't know that a hurricane could be less than 24 to 36 hours away.
COSTELLO: Yes, and you can't help but remember Gilbert, too. In 1988, what, 200 people died in Mexico.
Is Emily on the same path?
MYERS: And, you know, it's interesting, Emily took almost an identical path. It was. Gilbert was the strongest hurricane to ever be in the Caribbean period -- 2623 inches of mercury was the lowest pressure ever, ever recorded in a hurricane. And that was Gilbert. But by the time it did get over Cozumel, it was only a category three. This was a category four. So this was actually stronger than Gilbert for the Yucatan. Not stronger for Jamaica, where it was a cat five, but certainly stronger for Cozumel.
COSTELLO: Enough said.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Mexican officials asked more than 100,000 tourists to evacuate the seaside hotels around Cancun and Cozumel.
Carolina Cardenas is the secretary of tourism for the State of Yucatan in Mexico.
Tell us about evacuations. There are a lot of hotel rooms, a lot of tourists there.
Did you have a fairly smooth evacuation?
CAROLINA CARDENAS, SECRETARY OF TOURISM, YUCATAN: No, it was, in that area, through the airport of Cancun, that was a strong evacuation. And the rest of the tourists are in a safe place in Cancun. And some other tourists moved to Yucatan, to this area, to Bayodolis (ph), Amarisa (ph) and San Pochitu (ph).
So I think everybody is safe, in a safe place.
Also, in Yucatan, we are a little worried about the Mayan people because that's the west part of Yucatan where we have 100,000 Mayan people living in not very strong houses. So we worry about them.
O'BRIEN: And were they given any sort of access to emergency shelter?
CARDENAS: Yes. There are 1,000 shelters in Yucatan. So by now everybody is in a shelter.
O'BRIEN: Tell me about what this means for your business, for the tourism industry. Do you have -- have you had a sense to assess that?
CARDENAS: OK, as we had the hurricane Isadore three years -- almost three years ago, we know it's not going to be strong in this area, in this area of the capital city, Merida. So we only need two or three days, I hope so, to get the lights back, everything organized again. And by the weekend, everything will look normal. O'BRIEN: A final thought. There were some tourists that remained in hotel rooms in Cancun.
Are those in hotel rooms that are built to withstand this sort of a hurricane?
CARDENAS: Yes. The hurricane was quite far from Cancun. It was in the other area. It was in the south area. So the damage was around Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and Colon. But Cancun was quite safe.
O'BRIEN: OK, Carolina Cardenas, who is the secretary of tourism for Yucatan.
Thank you very much.
Stay with us all morning for continuing coverage of hurricane Emily. CNN, your hurricane headquarters -- Carol.
COSTELLO: There are new developments this morning in the London bombings investigation. CNN has learned that at least three of the suspected suicide bombers traveled to Pakistan in the year before the attacks.
Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us now live from London, right outside of Scotland Yard.
Tell us more -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, the Pakistani immigration and intelligence officials both confirm that at least three of the suspected bombers entered Pakistan. Two of them arrived in Karachi Airport on the 19th of November last year. They flew in on a Turkish Airlines flight. We are told they spent about a week in the city of Karachi then traveled by train north to the Pakistani city of Lahore. Also, we are told that they stayed in the country about three months, leaving on the 8th of February this year.
The other, the youngest of the suspected suicide bombers, entered Pakistan at the same airport, Karachi Airport, on the 15th of July last year. It is not clear how long he spent inside Pakistan.
It is also not clear what any of these three men did while in the country. That is understood to be the subject of the investigation, not only by Pakistani intelligence officials, but by British authorities, as well -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, all of the -- the youngest alleged bomber, his parents say that they're surprised, he would never do something like this. But surely they knew he went to Pakistan for three months and surely they know what he did there.
ROBERTSON: That appears, at least on the surface at this time, to be -- not to be the case. They said that they were devastated when they found out what he had done. We had heard from friends in the community in Leeds that he had traveled to Saudi Arabia for a religious, what's known as an 'umrah, to visit Mecca. However, it's not clear what he did when he was in Saudi Arabia.
But we do know that he then did take that flight from Saudi Arabia, from Riyadh to Pakistan, to the city of Karachi.
Again, that's what investigators are focusing on -- what did he do during that visit in Saudi Arabia? What did he do during the visit in Pakistan? And it does seem, if taken at face value, from what the family say, they didn't know -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And no firm connection to al Qaeda, though? We just know that these guys went to Pakistan?
ROBERTSON: Certainly British officials, the man heading the investigation, Sir Ian Blair, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, says he expects -- those are his words -- expects to find a link with al Qaeda during this investigation. And they -- it is believed, well, we know, certainly, that a number of al Qaeda operatives have been arrested in Pakistan over the last few years. So that would certainly seem to heighten the suspicions that there could -- there is a possibility of a link here -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Nic Robertson live in London this morning.
Thank you.
Let's head to Atlanta now to check the headlines with Betty Nguyen -- good morning, Betty. BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol.
Now in the news, President Bush is hosting India's prime minister at the White House this morning. The visit is expected to focus on nuclear weapons and India's push for a seat on the U.N. Security Council. President Bush will also likely face questions about the Karl Rove situation during a news conference with the prime minister.
And CNN will have live coverage of that beginning at 11:15 Eastern.
In other news, convicted bomber Eric Rudolph is set to be formally sentenced to the first of four life prison terms. Rudolph confessed to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing and the 1998 blast outside a Birmingham, Alabama abortion clinic. Now, some of his victims will confront Rudolph ahead of the sentencing. One woman critically injured is one of -- in one of the attacks says she will tell Rudolph the crime only made her stronger.
A powerful typhoon battering Taiwan. The storm dumped more than a foot of rain in some parts. Winds of more than 110 miles per hour tossed debris and blew out windows. At least one death is being blamed on the severe weather.
And a sugar rush at the box office. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" topped the weekend box office sales. Johnny Depp's newest hit raked in nearly $55.5 million. The comedy "Wedding Crashers" opened in the number two spot. And our "90 Second Pop" panel will weigh in on whether the film deserves the golden ticket in the next hour. I didn't see that one, but I did see "Wedding Crashers." Pretty funny stuff, guys.
O'BRIEN: You liked it?
COSTELLO: Did you see John McCain in it?
NGUYEN: I did. That was a surprise cameo. There are a few other surprise cameos, too.
COSTELLO: We're going to talk about that, too.
Thank you, Betty.
O'BRIEN: I'm interested about that. I hear he's getting into a little trouble with that, is that right?
COSTELLO: Well, there's some controversy.
O'BRIEN: Well, naturally.
COSTELLO: But we're going to save that for later, for the "90 Second Pop" segment.
O'BRIEN: So you'll have to stay tuned to find out the controversy.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: All right, still to come on the program, the first major charges announced against Saddam Hussein. One of his legal advisers talks about how the defense will handle the case.
COSTELLO: Also, Karl Rove is at the center of the CIA leak probe. But did another White House aide reveal the identity of a CIA operative?
O'BRIEN: And the controversy over Ritalin. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" for the truth about a drug prescribed for millions of children. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: A date for a trial of Saddam Hussein could be announced this week. At long last the Iraqi special tribunal announced the first charges against the former dictator Sunday. The charges against Hussein stem from the execution of dozens of Shiites in 1982 after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein.
Joining us today from Rome is a legal adviser to Saddam, Giovanni Di Stefano.
Mr. Di Stefano, good to have you with us. You have not had any contact with Saddam Hussein, not for quite some time.
Do you have any inkling if he is aware of this charge?
GIOVIANNI DI STEFANO, HUSSEIN'S LEGAL ADVISER: Well, you talk of the word charge. But there is actually no charge yet. There is an indication of a charge, which Judge Jouhi has indicated yesterday at a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) press conference...
O'BRIEN: All right, well, that's a little -- that's a little bit of a technicality. The point is that charges are coming forward here.
Let's talk about whether he knows anything about it and what the defense might be.
DI STEFANO: Well, you know, you say technicality. I don't know whether he knows anything about it or not, but the law is about a technicality. This man has not been charged yet. To charge a person, you take them before a court and you say you, Saddam Hussein, are accused of A, B, C, D on such and such a day contrary to law.
O'BRIEN: But the process...
DI STEFANO: That simply --
O'BRIEN: The process...
DI STEFANO: ... hasn't happened.
O'BRIEN: All right, the process has begun here. And I'm just curious, if you could give me a sense, as one of his self-proclaimed advisers here, if you could give me a sense of some sort of defense tactic in this case.
DI STEFANO: Well, Miles, before you talk of a defense tactic, we need to see the specifics of the offense. All that we have at the moment are what the media are saying and what Judge Jouhi was indicating, that 143 people were apparently placed on trial and then subsequently executed. They were without a lawyer and without proper charges. That 1,500 people were allegedly put into detention without access to a lawyer and without knowing why they were there.
But we have a similar situation with Saddam Hussein. Five hundred and forty-eight days, three visits from a lawyer and we don't know why he's there. We can speculate, but that's not good enough.
O'BRIEN: So will you say that he was not responsible for this massacre?
DI STEFANO: We don't know because there are no such thing. The charges haven't been forthcoming. Once there is a formal charge, I will be able to say to you quite clearly guilty or not guilty, because the indicted person has to plead. And only at that stage can we make that comment. We cannot -- it would be wholly wrong for us...
O'BRIEN: Well, let's...
DI STEFANO: ... to speculate at this stage.
O'BRIEN: Can we just -- just hypothetically give us a sense of what kind of defense tactics there would be in this case, without getting bogged down in these technicalities.
DI STEFANO: In the un...
O'BRIEN: Please.
DI STEFANO: Well, OK. First and foremost, before anything, there are pre-trial motions that have to be dealt with. There is the question of the legitimacy of the tribunal. But more important, there is the question of sovereign immunity. At that time...
O'BRIEN: Wait a minute. Wait...
DI STEFANO: ... in 1982...
O'BRIEN: Mr. Di Stefano, he granted himself that immunity , right?
DI STEFANO: No, he didn't.
O'BRIEN: Well, he was the dictator...
DI STEFANO: Well, not...
O'BRIEN: ... and he was the one who wrote the constitution and granted himself that immunity. That doesn't count, does it?
DI STEFANO: Well, of course it counts. It is a...
O'BRIEN: Why?
DI STEFANO: ... constitution -- well, because it's a constitution that was deposited at the United Nations and people vote on that there and they...
O'BRIEN: It wasn't worth the paper it was written on, right? So, I mean really.
DI STEFANO: Well, you say, you say so. You say so, but some would say -- the American constitution has faults in it. The right to bear arms and the right to carry arms. Why was that there?
O'BRIEN: All right, well...
DI STEFANO: Is it there to -- that -- these are all academic...
O'BRIEN: All right, so the point is what you're saying is...
DI STEFANO: ... matters.
O'BRIEN: ... immunity that he granted himself will be the defense.
It seems like a pretty slim defense to me.
DI STEFANO: Well, it's a matter of law. It's -- the new constitution reaffirms that you must apply Iraqi law at the time and Iraqi law at the time, Article 40 of the constitution was that all members of the Revolutionary Council and the president...
O'BRIEN: Are exempt from the law.
DI STEFANO: ... avow themselves. That's how it is. And it was accepted by 148 nations in the United Nations...
O'BRIEN: Do you really...
DI STEFANO: So don't...
O'BRIEN: Do you really think that...
DI STEFANO: ... blame him.
O'BRIEN: Do you really think that's going to hold any water, in the final analysis?
DI STEFANO: Well, we can only speculate simply because we don't know what the charges. There may be defenses to the -- we simply don't know. We have an indication that in 1982 there may or may not have been an offense. That still, incidentally, has to be reaffirmed and confirmed by a second judge. That hasn't happened yet. There's 45 days...
O'BRIEN: Well, I suspect it's going to happen...
DI STEFANO: ... in with a second judge...
O'BRIEN: ... Mr. Di Stefano, and that's why we're talking to you. I mean I think that that's just a matter of time.
DI STEFANO: Well, if it does happen, if, as a -- well, Miles, if as in when that does happen, that is the time when we can move forward. And is it not right and proper that out of 7,000 witness statements which they say they have, and two million documents, we should, at the very least, have one piece of paper? We can start with a proper charge, a proper particulars of the offenses.
That's if you want to try Saddam Hussein in a proper court on a fair trial.
The alternative is, of course, is what the Pakistanis did to their president many years ago. I mean it depends what we want to do. If you want a fair trial, you have to do it. You have to apply the law, not interpret it, as you want to try and do, to interpret a law, as regrettable as it might be.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's have you back when you see those charges, all right? We'll talk about them more specifically. Giovanni Di Stefano, legal adviser to Saddam Hussein.
Thanks for your time -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It has been proven to help attention problems and hyperactivity in children. But are drugs like Ritalin safe for your children? We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" next for a Ritalin reality check.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: In recent weeks, we've heard a number of big name celebrities coming out against the drug Ritalin, especially as it's prescribed to children. Tom Cruise, by far, was the most vocal among them.
But what is the truth about this drug? And are children being helped by it?
We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" for a fact check.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been around for nearly 50 years, heralded for decades as a cure for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. And the life of popular prescription drug Ritalin so far can be summed up in one word -- controversial.
DR. PETER JENSEN, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: When people think about hyperactivity and attention deficit problems and they think about medication, they think oh my goodness, you're drugging your child. Do we say that to parents whose kids have seizures? You're drugging your child.
GUPTA: So how does one little pill draw the ire of so many?
Part of it may have to do with numbers. In 1980, between 270,000 and 540,000 people in this country were prescribed Ritalin. That figure doubled 10 years later, to around 900,000. Then a fivefold leap, nearly five million Americans in 1997 were prescribed Ritalin.
For critics, that's too many millions of people, most of them children taking a controlled stimulant.
Pediatrician Dr. Lawrence Diller is the author of "Running On Ritalin."
LAWRENCE DILLER, PEDIATRICIAN: Many children who were minimally affected, but whose parents are worried are now flocking to the doctor, often pushed by the teacher, to get a diagnosis and the drug.
GUPTA: And as the number of children and adults prescribed Ritalin mount, so do the questions about its safety. In fact, the FDA has been weighing those concerns, particularly reports from some people of suicidal thoughts, hallucinations and violent behavior, trying to determine whether Ritalin should carry stronger warning labels.
JENSEN: With any medication -- and Ritalin is no exception -- there are case reports of things like suicidal ideation. But by and large these are exceptionally rare.
GUPTA: Studies say Ritalin is safe. But few of the thousands that have been conducted have followed patients over a long-term.
And what about abuse of the drug? The most recent Partnership For A Drug-Free America survey found that one in 10 teens had tried the stimulants Ritalin or Adderall without a doctor's prescription.
DILLER: There is a divide between age, I'd say 13 to 15. If you're younger, Ritalin is basically a safe medication. But over the age of 15, the risks of abuse are actually quite reasonable and high.
GUPTA: So what is the truth about Ritalin? Is it safe? Is it abused? Is it a drug saddled with too many problems?
DILLER: Ritalin is, you know, the best thing since sliced white bread or Ritalin is the devil's drug. It's neither. I would tell you in general, if the parents have, you know, gone through an effort to find out what's troubling this child, both in terms of behavior and learning problems, go ahead and use Ritalin.
GUPTA: The key? An open dialogue with your child's doctor about whether medication is, indeed, the best path.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Another note to tell you, the FDA says it intends to strengthen the warning labels for Ritalin. But first it wants to investigate whether similar psychiatric side effects are seen in other ADHD treatments such as Adderall and Strattera. The investigation should be finished early next year -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, our special series on iPods and crime. We told you Thursday how a fight over one cost a Brooklyn teen his life. Today, we'll tell you how you can protect yourself and your I-Pod. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Still to come, meet the daredevil skateboarder who is the first person ever to jump the Great Wall of China. Actually, he's the first person to try it, too. How did he do it? Well, that's how he did it right there. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm Miles O'Brien.
Good morning to you.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad today.
President Bush is expected to answer reporters' questions in just a few hours and there's a good chance he will be asked about, oh, you know, Karl Rove and...
O'BRIEN: A good chance.
COSTELLO: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I'd say 100 percent would be the chance of that.
COSTELLO: Yes, I think so.
O'BRIEN: "Time" magazine reporter Matthew Cooper speaking publicly about the investigation on Sunday, naming a member of the vice president's staff. The thing broadens a little bit. We'll get the reaction in Washington with Kamber and May just ahead.
But right now, let's check the headlines.
In Atlanta this morning is Betty Nguyen -- Betty, good morning.
NGUYEN: Well, good morning to you.
Now in the news, hurricane Emily's winds have fallen slightly. But a hurricane watch does remain in effect threat the Yucatan Peninsula. Emily is packing winds of 100 miles per hour, down from 115 earlier today. But the category two hurricane is expected to strengthen once it moves back over water. Chad Myers is tracking Emily. He will join us in just a moment.
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